1:30pm: Ocado Group Plc shares stay strong, Physiomics soars, but Torotrak tumbles
Ocado Group Plc (LON:OCDO) was still the standout riser for Tuesday, even if some small cap trading eclipsed the online grocery business for volatility.
Up 51.2p trading at 306.4p, Ocado shares were up 19.6% at around 1:30pm.
Elsewhere, buyers had extended Physiomics earlier gains – up 1.44p to 2.41p the medical technology group had added some 150% in value thanks to its now inked deal with drugs major Merck.
Torotrak shares, meanwhile, faced an entirely different fate – down 60% at 0.11p.
Elsewhere, WPP Plc (LON:WPP) shares climbed just over 2%, to trade at 1,294p, on Tuesday amid reports that the ad agency may be set to land Ford as a customer from 2018 onwards.
11:30am: Physiomics soars on Merck deal, Torotrak plummets as lenders call for repayment
Cranswick PLC (LON:CWK) shares advanced 224p or 7.4%, trading at 3,241p, after the food producer unveiled a ‘strong’ first half performance with revenue and profit showing double-digit percentage growth.
Used car seller BCA Marketplace PLC (LON:BCA) shares climbed 6.65% or 13.5p, up to 216.5p, as its interim results came in at the upper end of forecasts.
Physiomics PLC (LON:PYC) soared 75% as a venture with ‘big pharma’ partner Merck advances with the signing of a master services agreement. The virtual tumor project is envisaged as a multi-year relationship, with a €500,000 minimum year-one value for Physiomics.
UK-based castings and engineering firm Chamberlin PLC (LON:CMH) shed nearly a third of its value following the release of interim results revealing margins hit by production problems in its foundry business.
Torotrak PLC (LON:TRK) lost 60% as it updated on a squeeze on its finances – potential financing / asset sale negotiations have failed to land, and the company has now received notice demanding immediate repayment of £1.74mln due on a prior loan note deal.
The company said it had £3.7mln of cash at the end of September, but, it is now highly unlikely that it will be in a position to publish half yearly results before the end of this month.
10:40am: Ocado Group and Royal Dutch Shell are Tuesday’s standout early movers
Ocado Group PLC (LON:OCDO) shares leapt over 20% higher today as it unveiled a second international partnership agreement, with a major French grocer taking the Ocado Smart Platform (OSP) in a move that’s expected to “create significant long term value to the business.”
The FTSE 250 listed firm said the deal will have minimal impact to earnings in full year 2017, but expects the transaction to be earnings neutral with the costs of establishing the partnership, offsetting initial fees payable.
Neil Wilson, analyst at ETX Capital, in a note, said: “This is a transformative deal for Ocado as not only will it expose the firm to a large chunk of the French market, it could also be the launch pad for many more international partnerships. Casino has more than 11% of the French supermarket sector.”
Wilson noted that the share rally is exacerbated by the high volume of short selling prior to the deal, “shorts could be in for a rough time,” he said.
He added: “Investors should be relatively hopeful that this is just the start of a number of new deals around Europe. But they may want to watch just how much the technology investment eats up earnings and whether these deals increase the cash burn.”
Royal Dutch Shell PLC (LON:RDSB) gained around 3% in Tuesday’s early deals after a strategy update confirmed share-based dividends would be scrapped, and the big oil firm upgraded its cash-flow outlook.
“Ben van Beurden has delivered an early Christmas present for Shell shareholders,” said Nicholas Hyett, Hargreaves Lansdown analyst.
“Improved cash generation has allowed the group to scrap the scrip dividend, with the debt position improving steadily as well. The extra shares issued under the scrip are set to be swept back up by a $25bn share buyback over the next three years.
“It’s not all plain sailing though. The ambitious targets for a lower carbon footprint from its energy products reflects an increasingly carbon-conscious market, that’s also reflected in the group’s ongoing investment in new energies, which is set to step up from here.”
8:15am: Banks see mixed reactions to stress tests - RBS and Standard Chartered rise, Lloyds and Barclays open lower
It really is the season to be jolly, at least for one of the FTSE 100’s key sectors.
An awful lot of bankers can start looking forward to a merry Christmas. All blue-chip British banks this morning confirmed that they had passed the Bank of England's stress tests.
It will come as extra relief to Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LON:LLOY) and Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (LON:RBS), the bailed out banks which failed the hypothetical exercise a year ago, as both have improved their financial standings since then.
London’s banking stocks were, however, mixed in Tuesday’s early deals.
RBS opened about 0.4% higher, up a penny to 268.65p while Standard Chartered PLC (LON:STAN) began the day rising 0.3% to 736.5p.
Lloyds kicked of Tuesday trading lower, with its share down around 0.5% to 65.17p. Similarly, Barclays PLC (LON:BARC) was down about 0.4% in early exchanges changing hands at 186.8p.
Proactive news headlines:
Tavistock Investments PLC (LON:TAVI) swung into profit and forecast more to come as funds under its management more than doubled in the first half of the year.
European Metals Holdings Limited (LON:EMH) (ASX:EMH) has announce a further upgrade of its JORC compliant Indicated Mineral Resource at the Cinovec Lithium/Tin Project in the Czech Republic, confirming its status as the largest lithium resource in Europe.
The Federal Supreme Court of Ethiopia has eliminated a potential liability regarding an inherited claim for damages against KEFI Minerals PLC (LON:KEFI). This follows a judgement earlier this year that reduced the company's liability from US$12mln to US$600,000.
Acal PLC (LON:ACL), soon to change its name to DiscoverIE, ended its financial half-year with a record order book, after posting strong growth in sales and earnings.
Ormonde Mining PLC (LON:ORM) has said the Barruecopardo Tungsten mine project in Salamanca, Spain is well into its construction period, with commissioning scheduled to commence in the third quarter of 2018.
Touchstone Exploration Inc (LON:TXP) told investors that results from this year’s drill programme has continued to beat expectations. The company has begun preparations for its next four new wells. New drilling is expected to start in January, and will be funded by existing cash resources.
Tlou Energy Limited (LON:TLOU) has told investors that its 2D seismic acquisition programme in Botswana has now been completed. It is part of a campaign that aims to expand and enhance the current gas resources across Tlou’s coal bed methane asset portfolio.
E-bank FairFX Group PLC (LON:FFX) has launched a multi-currency business current account, Fair Everywhere, as its first step in the small company business sector.
Life sciences group OptiBiotix Health PLC (LON:OPTI) is seeking shareholder consent to re-organise its capital structure so it can make future dividend payments. Rather than making regular cash pay-outs, the company wants to be able to sanction a “dividend in specie” that would allow it to distribute its holding in SkinBioTherapeutics PLC (LON:SBX).
Online content software group Mirada Plc (LON:MIRA) has received more financial support from its major shareholder Ernesto Tinajero. The over-the-top content specialist will receive £1.7mln in a one-year convertible loan.
Following a successful commercial trial, Mporium Group PLC (LON:MPM), the event-driven marketing technology specialist, is to provide its IMPACT technology product to Total Media, the behavioural planning agency.
ANGLE PLC (LON:AGL,OTCQX:ANPCY) has provided headline findings of an academic study which shows Parsortix, its ground-breaking liquid biopsy, outperforms other approaches to harvesting circulating tumour cells. Known in short as CTCs, these blood-borne cells provide a tell-tale early sign of cancer.
Giulio Cerroni, appointed chief executive officer of IXICO PLC (LON:IXI) in February, has outlined his vision of the future growth strategy of the company.
The T3 copper project in Botswana currently being worked up in joint venture by MOD Resources (ASX:MOD) and Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR) has secured a further environmental approval for drilling to the north of the mineralisation.
Hummingbird Resources (LON:HUM) has announced that, in line with the imminent commencement of gold production from its Yanfolila Gold Mine in Mali, the company will be producing a Single Mine Origin pure gold coins, originating from Yanfolila, called the "1oz Hummingbird". The 1oz Hummingbird will be part of a collection of seven coins to be launched officially in 2018.
One of our eagle-eyed correspondents in Canada spotted an interesting release from Orvana MineralsCorp (TSX:ORV) that has a read-across for London-listed Anglo Pacific Group PLC (LON:APF). It was a drilling report from the El Valle-Boinàs and Carlés copper-gold mines in northern Spain (collectively known as EVBC).
accesso Technology Group PLC (LON:ACSO) announced that it has had a number of recent award wins in recognition of its innovative technology, its impact on the end-markets it serves, and on its growth track record as a firm. accesso said it received two awards at the 2017 IAAPA Attractions Expo: the attraction industry's largest and most prestigious event. In the same week, accesso was also named mid-market business of the year at the Lloyds Bank National Business Awards.